Operation Enduring Afghanistan

We’re finally out of Afghanistan.

Finally.

It’s been twenty years. It’s been considered one of our longest wars with another country. I’ve met people that didn’t even know we were at war with Afghanistan. Or war with the Taliban. Maybe it’s hard to keep track of where we are warring at, and when. Seems like it constantly. Seems like it is everywhere.

Twenty years. We’ve been there so long that a soldier could have been there fighting, then had a son, and that son could now be there fighting. That’s a long time.

The flip of a coin can be true. An Afghani could have been fighting, then had a son, and that son is now fighting. That’s a long time.

We invaded Afghanistan right after September 11, 2001, happened. Personally, I think the Bush II administration was just looking for a reason to get over there to protect Bush family-owned oil fields. Not unlike Bush’s dad had. The father, then had a son, then the son…. You get it.

What were we doing there? Fighting the Taliban. The Taliban is a far-right extremist group that follows their religion to theocratic loyalty. Law and punishment.

Strangely, the far-right in America is often considered to be similar, memes often appearing on social media with Arab extremists with their holy book and an automatic weapon on one half of the picture, with a white Christian with their holy book and an automatic weapon on the other half of the picture. It almost seems these two have a lot in common and should get along, but they don’t.

Ever since 9/11, we have been in Afghanistan, supposedly chasing a caricature of a middle eastern soldier: an impoverished man in the desert with a couple of weapons, some improvised explosive devices, and maybe a surface-to-air rocket launcher. And maybe some tanks.

On the other hand, you have the United States military with their many wings of service, and a bottomless pocket of tax-payer funded weapons, jets, tanks, carriers, satellites, spies, submarines, spy tech, and many things I as a citizen can even fathom. The U.S. armed forces are the most funded military branches in all the world. According to a 2021 SIPRI study, the United States spends more on their military as China, India, Russia, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Germany, France, Japan, South Korea, Italy, and Australia combined.

Afghanistan doesn’t even make the list of the Top 11.

Twenty years. And we couldn’t fix Afghanistan.

We haven’t even completely pulled out of Afghanistan (at the time of this writing), and already the Taliban has taken back some key spots of the country, and America is sending in the Marines to extract those that remain at the embassy.

Saigon, anyone?

Twenty years and we couldn’t do it.

Or maybe we wouldn’t do it? Everyone knows there is a lot of money in war. During war eras, Americans can’t wait to throw their money and 18 year-olds to the cause. They can’t wait to buy the merch and stick the magnets on their SUVs. In a strange, unspoken way, Americans tend to love wartime excitement.

Well, some do. A majority of Americans are anti-war, and a rising percentage of Americans are against the money we spend on the military and weapon contracts. It’s a racket, and we’re seeing it, the most recent alleged proof is twenty years in Afghanistan without success.

What a mess. What a waste: the lives lost, the money spent, and the lives over there that are in ruin. What a waste.

And may we learn from this.

Originally published at http://stevedustcircleus.wordpress.com on August 15, 2021.